Merriam-Webster defines "relaunch" as: "to go into or to put (something) into motion or operation again." (Emphasis added.) In the context of a career relaunch, the word implies to a return to a prior role or profession - going back to doing what one once did before.
I began my professional life as a lawyer. I left the field of law when I chose to follow my husband overseas and to take on the role of primary caretaker for my kids. When I made those decisions, I believed that there would come a time when I could return to my professional path and pick up almost exactly where I had left off.
That day did arrive, but it was not at all what I had expected. You see, in the years between when I left the law and the time when I could have returned to it, I had changed. I had evolved in ways I could not have previously imagined and found myself a completely different person - equipped with a new set of skills, talents and experiences that were better utilized in a new role.
Ironically, throughout the years that I had been undergoing this incredible transformation, I had been blind to the positive momentum I was building. By clinging to an image of the career that could have been, I was unable to see that from the day that I had left the law, I had been on the path to becoming who I was meant to be.
Maybe this is true for you, too! Maybe you have outgrown that prior role and you shouldn't do again what you did before. What a thought!
Consider that every step you have taken has brought you closer to the here and now. How can you best utilize all of your new skills and experiences to move you forward? How have you changed, grown, evolved?
Who are you today? Does your prior role or title fit the new you?
Yes - go into motion! But not again. Go into motion in a way that reflects and serves the present-day, ever-evolving you.